Author information:
Eszter Hergár https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3589-6814: Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Director. E-mail: hergare@mnb.hu
Levente Kovács https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6691-4505: University of Miskolc, Professor; Hungarian Banking Association, Secretary General. E-mail: kovacs.levente@bankszovetseg.hu
Erzsébet Németh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4427-9827: Budapest Metropolitan University, Professor and Senior Adviser. E-mail: enemeth@metropolitan.hu
Abstract:
This essay provides an overview of the measures implemented in the last ten years to improve financial literacy and awareness, presenting the steps taken by institutions, civil organisations and the government to promote and develop financial literacy and awareness, the specific topics addressed and the degree of success. Comparative international surveys indicate an improvement in the public’s financial awareness, mainly in terms of financial knowledge, but further progress is needed in the area of financial attitudes and the application of skills.
Cite as (APA):
Hergár, E., Kovács, L., & Németh, E. (2024). The Status and Development of Financial Literacy in Hungary. Financial and Economic Review, 23(1), 5–28. https://doi.org/10.33893/FER.23.1.5
Column:
Our Vision (Essay)
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes:
A13, D12, G51, G53, I2
Keywords:
financial literacy development programmes, financial education, financial awareness, Hungary
References:
Amagir, A. – Groot, W. – Maassen van den Brink, H. – Wilschut, A. (2018): A review of financial-literacy education programs for children and adolescents. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 17(1): 56–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047173417719555
Atkinson, A. – Messy F. (2012): Measuring Financial Literacy: Results of the OECD / International Network on Financial Education (INFE) Pilot Study. OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions No. 15. https://doi.org/10.1787/5k9csfs90fr4-en
Bárczi, J. – Zéman, Z. (2015): A pénzügyi kultúra és annak anomáliái (Financial Culture and Its Anomalies). Polgári Szemle (Civic Review), 11 (1–3): 102–110.
Béres, D. – Huzdik, K. (2012): Financial Literacy and Macro-economics. Public Finance Quarterly, 57(3): 298–312.
Béres, D. – Huzdik, K. – Kovács, P. – Sápi, Á. – Németh, E. (2013): Felmérés a felsőoktatásban tanuló fiatalok pénzügyi kultúrájáról (Survey of the financial culture of young people studying in higher education). Kutatási jelentés (Research Report). https://www.asz.hu/dokumentumok/t353.pdf
Bernheim, B.D. – Garrett, D.M. – Maki, D.M. (2001): Education and saving: The long-term effects of high school financial curriculum mandates. Journal of Public Economics, 80(3): 435–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2727(00)00120-1
Carlson, E. (2020): An Analysis of the Relationships Between State Mandates for Financial Education and Young Adults’ Financial Literacy and Financial Capability. Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020–24. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020/24. Downloaded: 11 December 2023.
Csiszárik-Kocsir, Á. – Varga, J. – Garai-Fodor, M. (2021): Knowledge About Past and Present Financial Crises in Relation to Financial Education. Public Finance Quarterly, 2021(2): 211–231. https://doi.org/10.35551/PFQ_2021_2_3
Cude, B.J. (2010): Financial Literacy 501. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(2): 271–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01168.x
Czeglédi, Cs. – Marosné Kuna, Zs. – Kollár, P. – Miskolciné Mikáczó, A. – Varga, E. – Zéman, Z. (2016): A vállalkozói ismeretek oktatásának helyzete a magyar felsőoktatásban (Educational Conditions of Entrepreneurship Knowledge in Highly Education). Polgári Szemle (Civic Review), 12(1–3): 208–228.
Garai-Fodor, M. (2023): Analysis of Financially Aware Consumer Segments from the Perspective of Conscious Consumer Behaviour. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 20(3): 83–100. https://doi.org/10.12700/APH.20.3.2023.3.6
Győri, Á. (2018): Kis- és középvállalkozások pénzügyi sérülékenysége (Financial vulnerability among Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises). Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review), 65(3): 240–258. https://doi.org/10.18414/KSZ.2018.3.240
Hegedűs, Sz. – Lentner, Cs. (2024): Examining financial literacy and the financial aspects of Hofstede’s four-factor culture model in Hungary. Revista Mexicana De Economía Y Finanzas Nueva Época, 19(1): 1–20, e963. https://doi.org/10.21919/remef.v19i1.963
Hergár, E. – Sz. Pap, J. (2019): Pénzügyi élet-leckék (Financial life-lessons). Szakmai cikk (Special article), Magyar Nemzeti Bank. https://www.mnb.hu/letoltes/hergar-eszter-sz-pap-judit-penzugyi-elet-leckek.pdf. Downloaded: 17 December 2023.
Hilgert, M. – Hogarth, J. – Beverly, S. (2003): Household Financial Management: The Connection between Knowledge and Behavior. Federal Reserve Bulletin, 89(July): 309–322. https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2003/0703lead.pdf
Huston, S.J. (2010): Measuring Financial Literacy. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(2): 296–316. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01170.x
Jakovác, K. – Németh, E. (2017): A pénzügyi kultúra fejlesztésének nemzeti stratégiái: tapasztalatok és tanulságok (National Strategies for Financial Literacy: Lessons from Experiences). PRO PUBLICO BONO – Magyar Közigazgatás, 2017(1): 196–211. https://real.mtak.hu/77937/1/PPB_MK_2017_1_Jakovac_Nemeth_A_penzugyi_kultura_fejlesztesenek__u.pdf
Kálmán, B. – Bárczi, J. – Zéman, Z. (2021): The Impact of the First Wave of Covid-19 on the Financial Security of Economics Students in Higher Education. Public Finance Quarterly, 2021(3): 359–380. https://doi.org/10.35551/PFQ_2021_3_3
Kovács, L. – Pásztor, Sz. (2022): Financial culture in European education. Economy and Finance, 9(1): 46–61. https://doi.org/10.33908/EF.2022.1.3
Kovács, L. – Terták, E. (2019): Financial Literacy – Theory and Evidence. Verlag Dashöfer, Bratislava.
Kovács, P. – Kuruczleki, É. – Rácz, T.A. – Lipták, L. (2021): Survey of Hungarian High School Students’ Financial Literacy in the Last 10 Years Based on the Econventio Test. Public Finance Quarterly, 2021(2): 175–194. https://doi.org/10.35551/PFQ_2021_2_1
Kovács, P. – Révész, B. – Ország Gáborné (2014): A pénzügyi kultúra és attitűd mérése (Measuring financial literacy and attitude). In: Hetesi, E. (ed.): Marketing megújulás: Marketing Oktatók Klubja 20. Konferenciája (Marketing Renewal: 20th Conference of the Club of Marketing Educators), pp. 439–447. https://eco.u-szeged.hu/download.php?docID=40014
Luksander, A. – Béres, D. – Huzdik, K. – Németh, E. (2014): Analysis of the factors that influence the financial literacy of young people studying in higher education. Public Finance Quarterly, 59(2): 220–241.
Lusardi, A. ‒ Mitchell, O. (2014): The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence. Journal of Economic Literature, 52(1): 5–44. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.52.1.5
Mak, V. – Braspenning, J. (2012): Errare humanum est: Financial Literacy in European Consumer Credit Law. Journal of Consumer Policy, 35: 307–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-012-9198-5
Mihály, N. ‒ Mészáros, A. ‒ Kovács, I.É. ‒ Madarász, I. ‒ Horváth, Cs. (2014): Pénzügyi attitűd és a „külső-belső kontroll” összefüggésrendszere (Financial attitude and the correlation system of “external-internal control”). Vezetéstudomány – Budapest Management Review, 45(10): 68–77. https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2014.10.07
Ministry of Finance (2017): Pénzügyi tudatosság fejlesztésének stratégiája – Okosan a pénzzel (The strategy of developing financial awareness – Budget wisely!). Pénzügyminisztérium (Ministry of Finance). https://www.okosanapenzzel.hu/Media/Default/ASZ-videok/Pénzügyi tudatosság fejlesztésének stratégiája.pdf. Downloaded: 26 June 2020.
Németh, E. (2017): Pénzügyi kultúra képzések: felmérés és diagnózis (Financial culture courses: survey and diagnosis). Új Pedagógiai Szemle, 2017(7‒8): 46‒68.
Németh, E. ‒ Béres, D. ‒ Huzdik, K. ‒ Zsótér, B. (2016): Financial personality types in Hungary - research methods and results. Financial and Economic Review, 15(2): 153‒172. https://en-hitelintezetiszemle.mnb.hu/letoltes/erzsebet-nemeth-daniel-beres-katalin-huzdik-boglarka-zsoter-en.pdf
Németh, E. ‒ Deák-Zsótér, B. (2023): A pénzügyi-gazdasági témájú továbbképzések eredményessége (The effectiveness of continuing education on financial and economics topics). ERUDITIO-EDUCATIO, 1(18): 64‒85. https://doi.org/10.36007/eruedu.2023.1.064-085
Németh, E. ‒ Vargha, B.T. ‒ Domokos, K. (2020): Financial Literacy. Who, whom and what are they Training for? Comparative Analysis 2016–2020. Public Finance Quarterly, 2020(4): 554‒583. https://doi.org/10.35551/PFQ_2020_4_7
OECD (2016): Measuring financial literacy among adults. https://www.oecd.org/finance/financial-education/measuringfinancialliteracy.htm. Downloaded: 20 February 2024.
OECD (2020): OECD/INFE 2020 International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy. http://www.oecd.org/financial/education/launchoftheoecdinfeglobalfinancialliteracysurveyreport.htm
Pál, Zs. (2018): Pénzügyi kultúra az átalakuló bankszektorban (Financial literacy in the transforming banking sector). In: Pál, Zs. (ed.): FINTELLIGENCE: Tudományos Pénzügyi Kultúra Körkép Miskolc, Magyarország, Scientific Financial Literacy Panorama, Miskolc, Hungary: Közgazdasági-módszertani képzés fejlesztéséért Alapítvány (Foundation for the Development of Economic-Methodolical Training), pp. 119–136. https://gtk.uni-miskolc.hu/files/13008/F-TPKK_web.pdf
PÉNZ7.hu (2024): A magyarok pénzügyi tudása a nemzetközi élbolyban van, ám meg kell tanulnunk a gyakorlatban is alkalmazni az ismereteket (The financial knowledge of Hungarians is at the forefront internationally, but we must learn to apply the knowledge in practice). https://www.penz7.hu/hir-reszlet.cshtml?hirId=137. Downloaded: 8 February 2024.
Pintér, É. (ed.) (2020): Tendenciák a pénzügyi tudatosságban (Tendencies in financial awareness). Miskolc, Magyarország, Pécs, Magyarország, (Miskolc, Hungary, Pécs, Hungary) FINTELLIGENCE Pénzügyi Kultúra Központ (Financial Literacy Centre), 214 p.
Pintér, É. – Bagó, P. – Berényi, L. – Molnár, L. – Deutsch, N. – Pintér, T. (2021): How do Digitalization and the Fintech Phenomenon Affect Financial Decision-Making in the Younger Generation? Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 18(11): 191–208. https://doi.org/10.12700/APH.18.11.2021.11.11
Plakalovic, N. (2012): Financial Literacy and Resultant Stability of the Financial System. Proceedings of the Faculty of Economics in East Sarajevo, 6, 135–144.
Remund, D.L. (2010): Financial Literacy Explicated: The Case for a Clearer Definition in an Increasingly Complex Economy. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(2): 276–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01169.x
Sági, J. – Vasa, L. – Lentner, Cs. (2020): Innovative solutions in the development of households’ financial awareness: A Hungarian example. Economics & Sociology, 13(3): 27–46. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2020/13-3/2
Stango, V. – Zinman, J. (2007): Fuzzy math and red ink: When the opportunity cost of consumption is not what it seems. Mimeo, Dartmouth College.
Suganya, S. – Sakthivelrani, S. – Durai, K. (2013): Development and validation of financial literacy scale. International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 4(1): 99–104.
Van Rooij, M. – Lusardi, A. – Alessie, R. (2011): Financial literacy and stock market participation. Journal of Financial Economics, 101(2): 449–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2011.03.006